List of Figures
Figure 1. Primary
Market Areas
Figure 2. Cocaine Flows to the United
States
Figure 3. Reported Methamphetamine
Laboratory Seizures, 1999-2003
Figure 4. Percentages of Treatment Admissions for
Methamphetamine/Amphetamine Based on Criminal Justice Referrals, 1999-2002
Figure 5.
Methamphetamine Seizures at or Between Ports of Entry, in Kilograms,
2003
Figure 6. Rates of Past Year Use for Marijuana,
2000-2004
Figure 7. Principal Outdoor Cannabis
Cultivation Areas
Figure 8. Numbers of Persons Aged
12 or Older Reporting Past Year Use in Millions, 2003
Figure 9. Heroin Admissions to Publicly
Funded Treatment Facilities, 1992-2002
Figure 10. MDMA-Related Arrests, Nationwide, 2000-2003
Figure 11. MDMA Seizures, in Dosage Units, 2000-2003
Figure 12. Emergency Department Mentions for Narcotic Analgesics, 1995-2002
Figure 13. Emergency Department Mentions for Benzodiazepines, 1995-2002
Figure 14. Estimated Annual Domestic Retail-Level Drug
Purchases in Billions of Dollars, 2000
List of Tables
Table 1. Drug Seizures at Ports of Entry in Kilograms, Southwest
Border vs. Northern Border, 2003
Table 2: Seizures of Drugs in Kilograms Originating
in Southwest Border States vs. All Other States, 2003
Table 3. Andean Region Coca Cultivation in Hectares, and
Potential Cocaine Production, in Metric Tons, (100% pure), 1999-2003
Table 4. Cocaine Losses in Transit Toward the United States, in
Metric Tons, 2002-2003
Table 5. Methamphetamine National Price Ranges, 2003
Table 6. Top Five States for Marijuana Eradication, 2003
Table 7. U.S.
Arrival Zone Seizures of Marijuana in Kilograms,
2001-2003
Table 8. Potential Worldwide Heroin Production, in Metric Tons,
1999-2003
The abuse of illicit drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana,
heroin, and MDMA as well as diverted pharmaceuticals inflicts
tremendous damage on society. Nearly 35 million persons aged 12 or older
used an illicit drug within the past year, and approximately 3.8 million
were dependent on or abusers of illicit drugs in 2003. Key trends and
developments related to narcotics trafficking and drug abuse include:
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Mexican criminal groups exert more influence over drug
trafficking in the United States than any other group. Mexican
criminal groups smuggle most of the cocaine available in domestic drug
markets into the country. Moreover, Mexican criminal groups produce
and subsequently smuggle into the country much of the heroin,
marijuana, and methamphetamine available in U.S. drug markets. Mexican
criminal groups also produce large amounts of marijuana and
methamphetamine within the United States for domestic distribution.
Mexican criminal groups are the predominant transporters and wholesale
distributors of cocaine and methamphetamine in most regions of the
country; they are the predominant transporters and wholesale
distributors of heroin in western regions of the country; and they are
very prominent transporters and wholesale distributors of marijuana
throughout the country.
-
Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) appear
to be gaining control of a larger percentage of the cocaine smuggled
into the United States. The estimated percentage of cocaine smuggled
into the United States via the Mexico-Central America corridor
increased sharply from 72 percent in 2002 to 77 percent in 2003, and
preliminary data indicate that the percentage may be higher than 90
percent for 2004. Nearly all of the cocaine transported through
the Mexico-Central America corridor ultimately is smuggled across the
U.S.-Mexico border by Mexican criminal groups for subsequent
distribution in the United States.
-
Domestic drug markets appear to be increasingly
supplied with methamphetamine produced in methamphetamine superlabs in
Mexico.
-
Production and distribution of ice methamphetamine--a
higher purity, more addictive form of methamphetamine--by
Mexican criminal groups has increased sharply in many drug markets
since 2001.
-
Colombian DTOs are increasingly relying on Mexican
DTOs and criminal groups to transport South American heroin to the
United States much as they rely on Mexican DTOs to transport cocaine.
-
The threat posed to the United States by the illegal
diversion and abuse of prescription drugs has increased sharply since
the mid-1990s and is now among the leading drug threats to the
country.
-
Law enforcement reporting indicates that
transportation of bulk currency out of the United States--primarily
overland across the U.S.-Mexico border--is the principal form of money
laundering by DTOs.
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Cocaine
-
Key indicators show stable or slightly increased
cocaine availability in U.S. drug markets despite sharp decreases in
the amount of cocaine transported toward the United States from South
America in 2003.
-
Use of powder cocaine and crack has decreased overall
among eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders since 1999.
-
Worldwide cocaine production has decreased sharply
since 2001, primarily because of a 34 percent decline in cocaine
production in Colombia from 700 metric tons in 2001 to 460 metric tons
in 2003.
Methamphetamine
-
Methamphetamine availability has increased sharply
over the past year in the Northeast Region, primarily because of an
increase in wholesale distribution by Mexican criminal groups.
-
The number of treatment admissions for methamphetamine
has increased significantly from 58,795 in 1999, to 66,975 in 2000, to
81,799 in 2001, and 104,481 in 2002.
-
National-level laboratory seizure data as well as law
enforcement reporting indicate that domestic methamphetamine
production has expanded to more areas of the country and that the
total number of laboratories seized increased steadily from 1999
(6,940) through 2003 (10,340). However, these increases do not
necessarily reflect a rise in the total amount of methamphetamine
produced in the country, as the number of methamphetamine superlabs
(laboratories capable of producing at least 10 pounds of
methamphetamine per production cycle) operating in the United States
appears to be decreasing. The number of reported superlab seizures has
decreased from 246 in 2001, to 144 in 2002, to 133 in 2003. Moreover,
preliminary data indicate that the number of superlab seizures may
have declined significantly in 2004.
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Law enforcement reporting and drug seizure data
indicate that methamphetamine production has increased sharply in
Mexico since 2002.
Marijuana
-
Marijuana use among eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders
as well as college students has declined each year since peaking in
the late 1990s.
-
Domestic marijuana production appears to be
increasing, in part because of the rising involvement of U.S.-based
Mexican criminal groups in domestic cultivation.
-
Mexico has been the principal source area for
U.S.-destined foreign marijuana for decades, and already high
production levels escalated in 2003. An estimated 13,500 metric tons
of marijuana were potentially produced in Mexico in 2003--70 percent
more than in the previous year. Reportedly contributing to the
escalated production in 2003 were favorable rainfall patterns in the
western Sierra Madre Mountains, throughout which small cultivation
plots are scattered to avoid detection and eradication of the plants.
Heroin
-
The availability of Southwest Asian heroin appears to
have increased slightly in 2003; however, preliminary 2004 data
indicate that availability of Southwest Asian heroin may be declining
to pre-2003 levels.
-
Worldwide heroin production increased in 2002, 2003,
and 2004, attributable overwhelmingly to increases in production in
Afghanistan.
-
The smuggling of South American heroin across the
Southwest Border--particularly through Texas--increased significantly
in 2003; however, the total amount of heroin seized in Texas still
accounts for a relatively small percentage of heroin seized in the
United States each year.
MDMA
-
The availability of and rates of use for MDMA have
decreased nationwide since 2001.
-
The number of domestic MDMA laboratories seized, while
still very low, increased slightly in 2004.
-
Shifts in transportation routes have resulted in a
decrease in the amount of MDMA smuggled into the United States
directly from the Netherlands and Belgium.
-
Asian criminal groups are becoming increasingly
involved in MDMA trafficking in all regions.
Pharmaceuticals
-
The abuse of prescription drugs has increased sharply
since the mid-1990s and now has stabilized at high levels.
-
The availability of pharmaceuticals has increased
since the late 1990s when legitimate distribution of pharmaceuticals
increased sharply.
Other Dangerous Drugs
-
Emergency department (ED) mentions for GHB have
increased sharply since the mid-1990s.
-
Rates of ketamine use are trending downward among
adolescents and young adults.
-
The availability of LSD is decreasing, and rates of
use have decreased sharply since 2001 to very low levels.
-
ED mentions for PCP are increasing despite declining
past year rates of use.
Inhalants
-
Rates of use for inhalants declined overall from 1995
to 2002; however, use among eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders rose
significantly from 2003 to 2004.
Steroids
Money Laundering
-
Interagency estimates indicate that the cost to
society from drug trafficking and abuse in the United States is
between $60 billion and $108 billion.
-
Government estimates indicate annual retail-level
cocaine purchases at $36 billion, heroin at $10 billion, marijuana at
$11 billion, methamphetamine at $5.4 billion, and other substances at
$2.4 billion.
-
Law enforcement reporting indicates that
transportation of bulk currency out of the United States--primarily
overland across the U.S.-Mexico border--is the principal form of money
laundering utilized by DTOs.
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